Splendid televised ceremony in Lebanon last night, at the seat of the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke of the Beatification of the great Estephan El Douaihy (1630-1704), 57th Patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church.
Not just a holy man but an early, great and prolific historian of Christian Lebanon, most of whose work hasn’t been translated.
A brilliant individual, he studied in Rome for 14 years (1641-1655), made Maronite “Patriarch of Antioch” at the age of forty in 1670.
I wasn’t there but watching it felt like a tangible expression of a still existing but threatened Christian Lebanon in real danger of extinction by political, economic and terroristic pressure. An inflection point perhaps for Lebanon and this community. But which way?
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As a friend reminded me, among the many pious and faithful in the audience at this event, were also some prominent sleazy politicians and gangsters present who have greatly contributed to the destruction of Lebanon.
And the worst ones were in the front rows, of course!
أكثر من أربعة قرون تفصل بين هذين العالمين الكبيرين من بلدة إهدن، البطريرك إسطفان الدويهي والروائي جبّور الدويهي. عائلة تحمل جيناتها علامة لا تمحى من سعة المعرفة والموهبة الأدبية
Plus de quatre siècles séparent ces deux grands lettrés de Ehden, Le Patriarche Etienne Douaihy et le romancier Jabbour Douaihy .
Une famille dont les gènes portent la marque indélébile de l’érudition et du talent littéraire